News Summary

• Mark and Sam are artificial intelligence agents, the newest brainchildren of Meta and OpenAI.
• Both agents are built to look like a text message chain with a friend: you give them names and cuddly avatars.
• With a name, a face and an intimate knowledge of our lives, they could easily become more friend than tool.
• Their arrival also brings us into a moment of “cognitive dissonance,” says Pat Pataranutaporn, an assistant professor at the MIT Media Lab.